The Wireless Village (www.wireless-village.org) is an initiative for Instant Messaging and Presence Services (IMPS) backed by a number of leading mobile telephone manufacturers. The Wireless Village has published a specification for IMPS.
The specification describes how an IMPS client communicates with a server to provide an Instant Messaging service and a Presence Attribute service. Instant messaging allows messages such as text, pictures or files to be sent between IMPS clients via the server. This allows two users to ‘chat’ interactively by exchanging messages instantly between their clients. Presence Attributes allow a user to publish attribute information about the user or their terminal, such as whether they are available for instant messaging, their preferred method of contact etc. Another IMPS client can obtain this attribute information and be informed of changes to the information.
The Wireless Village specifications are concerned with enabling IMPS which is a powerful new technology. They are not concerned with the how it will be integrated with existing technology.